Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, August 28, 2003

 

Page 1

 

September Hearings Set for Appellate Court Nominees

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

The Commission on Judicial Appointments has set September hearings in Los Angeles and San Francisco for six jurists named to the appellate bench by Gov. Gray Davis yesterday.

The Los Angeles hearing will take place on Sept. 25 and the San Francisco hearing on Sept. 26.

Nominations to the appellate courts require confirmation by the commission, which consists of Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and the presiding justice—or senior presiding justice, in the case of courts with multiple divisions—of the Court of Appeal involved.

The appointments of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Laurie Zelon and Madeleine Flier to this district’s Court of Appeal will be considered at the Los Angeles hearing, along with the appointment of San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Irion to Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the elevation of Justice Judith McConnell of Div. One to presiding justice of the division.

Zelon was named to succeed Justice Donald Perluss on Div. Seven. Perluss was elevated to presiding justice of the division.

Flier will fill a spot in Div. Eight which has been vacant since that division was created two years ago.

Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein of Div. Three will join George and Lockyer in considering the qualifications of Zelon and Flier. Presiding Justice David G. Sills of the Fourth District’s Div. Three will join in considering the merits of Irion and McConnell.

The San Francisco hearing will consider the appointments of Merced Superior Court Judge Betty L. Dawson to the Fifth District Court of Appeal and Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Richard J. McAdams to the Sixth District Court of Appeal. Dawson’s panel will include Fifth District Presiding Justice James A. Ardaiz and McAdams’ will include Sixth District Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing.

The Los Angeles hearing will take place at 1 p.m. in the California Supreme Court Courtroom of the Ronald Reagan State Office Building at 300 South Spring Street. The San Francisco hearing is set for 2:30 p.m. in the California Supreme Court Courtroom of the Earl Warren Building at 350 McAllister Street.

The hearings are open to the public, and if confirmed,  the nominees will be sworn in by the chief justice afterwards.

The commission has set a deadline of Sept. 18 for submission of written comments or requests to testify on the nominees to be considered in Los Angeles. For the San Francisco hearing the deadline is Sept. 19.

Under commission rules requests to testify must be made in writing and must include a summary of the facts on which any testimony or opinion will be based.

 

Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company